Five damaged portraits restored by local artist Nancy Scoble will be unveiled in a ceremony set to begin at 11 a.m. Friday in the Superior Courtroom at the Beaufort County Courthouse.

Superior Court Judge Wayland J. Sermons Jr. and Clerk of Court Marty Paramore are hosts of the event.

The restored portraits are of William Blount Rodman II, George Hubbard Brown, Stephen Cambreteng Bragaw, James Edward Shepherd and Edward Warren. Shepherd was a chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court. Bragaw was a Superior Court judge. Brown was a justice on the North Carolina Supreme Court.  Rodman was a noted lawyer. Warren was a lawyer and grandfather of Lindsay C. Warren, a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

After they were damaged, the portraits had been long-stored in a closet under the stairs in the courthouse lobby. The portraits were among janitorial supplies.

The story behind the damage portraits was revealed by Jim Vosburg, former attorney and Superior Court judge. Vosburg was a lawyer involved in what turned out to be a particularly contentious child-custody case that was brought before Judge Hallet Ward.

“This was in 1968 or 1969, in the old courthouse,” Vosburg recalled. “It was a very, very vicious custody proceeding. Things got really unpleasant, and the court recessed for a two-hour lunch break.”

During the recess, the little boy who was at the center of the custody battle managed to get his hands on a handmade gavel that had been presented to Ward, Vosburg said.

“He took that gavel and threw it at every portrait in the courtroom, causing damage,” he said.

Several months after the damaged portraits were discovered, Paramore approached the Beaufort County Board of Commissioners about funds to restore them. The Beaufort County Board of Commissioners on July 7, 2008, approved spending no more than $3,000 to restore the portraits.

Paramore began seeking someone to restore the portraits. A professional restorer provided an estimate to restore the portraits that ranged from $12,500 to $15,000, according to Paramore.

Scoble came forward and expressed interest in the project. Scoble provided an estimated of $2,800 to restore the paintings. Paramore hired her.

The decision to let Scoble restore the portraits did not sit well with some people. A Washington Daily News series about the restoration project resulted in criticism from some members of the art-restoration community. They complained that Scoble was not qualified to perform the restoration work. To them, Scoble did not have the prerequisite credentials to perform such restoration work. They didn’t believe Scoble had the training or experience to take on such a task.

Others offered support, pleased the county hired a local artist to perform the task.

“We haven’t had a single complaint, locally, from anyone who’s seen this work,” County Manager Paul Spruill said a little more than a year ago.

The results of Scoble’s work will be made public Friday.

Kevin Scott Cutler, a contributing writer to the Washington Daily News, contributed to this article.